Prez candidate should be acceptable to all: BJP

Ghaziabad: Former BJP president Rajnath Singh on Sunday said the Presidential candidate should not be disputable in any manner and favoured a person acceptable to the whole country.

"The candidate for the post of President of India should be above caste, religion and colour and he should not be disputable in any manner with no stigma of corruption, favouritism and political vendetta," said the BJP MP from Ghaziabad.

He was speaking to media at his residence here today.

When asked about his stand on the BJP`s preferred candidate former president APJ Abdul Kalam, Singh said, "It is a party level decision and personal liking for any candidate has no meaning."

On April 30, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj had said, "If a name is supported by Mamata Banerjee and Sharad Pawar, we will support it. If Mulayam Singh Yadav takes Kalam`s name, then we can respond favourably."

Replying to a question about the recent comment of Swaraj that "Vice-President Hamid Ansari does not have the stature to become President", Singh said that personal opinions may be different from party opinion, and one should not take it a matter of prestige.

"Person for this post (President`s) should be acceptable to whole of the country and not only to government or Opposition," the senior BJP leader said.

The MP criticised the role of district police in handling the case of alleged disappearance of six girl from a government patronage house here over a period of one month, and said that he would raise the issue in the Parliament.

"Police was ineffective in this matter and I will raise the issue in the Parliament," he said.